Kirity Roy | |
---|---|
Nationality (legal) | Indian |
Occupation | Civil rights activist |
Kirity Roy is an Indian civil rights activist working in West Bengal. He is the founder secretary of Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) of a non-governmental human rights organisation based in Serampore, Hoogly, near Kolkata. [1] he has been documenting alleged state atrocities, particularly in Indo-Bangladesh bordering districts of West Bengal. In 2003, Roy was elected to the board of Amnesty International India.
Roy is known for fighting against alleged state atrocities, where victims —often among India's poorest citizens— report extrajudicial killings, custodial death, rape, mysterious disappearances, and police torture. Roy documented 118 cases in 2006, 469 in 2007, 210 in 2008. [2]
In June 2008, the West Bengal police filed several cases against Roy after he had organized a ‘People’s Tribunal on Torture’ documenting several instances of police torture. [3] [4]
He was arrested at Darang, Assam, along with Mr. Ravi Nair (SAHRDC), Mr. P. A. Sebastian (CPDR), Mr. Parag Das (MASS) and others on 10 December 1993, from a public meeting conveyed to celebrate Human Rights Day. On 9 December 2005, on the eve of Human Rights Day, Kirity Roy along with other activists of MASUM was arrested in front of Writers’ Buildings (State Secretariat), Kolkata. In 1994, his residence was attacked and bombed by the police for standing as a witness in a Habeas Corpus case relating to the abduction and murder of Bhikari Paswan, a jute mill worker, by the police.
In April 2010, Roy was arrested on allegations of "impersonation" related to the same incident - the charges behind his arrest imply that conducting public hearings constitutes "running a parallel court". [2] [5] The arrest was condemned by Amnesty International, [6] the Asian Centre for Human Rights, [7] [8] and International Federation of Human Rights. [4]
Kirity Roy is an Indian civil rights activist working in West Bengal. As secretary of a non-governmental human rights organisation based in Kolkata, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM),[1], he has been documenting alleged state atrocities upon the people from marginalized sections of West Bengal. In 2003, Roy was elected to the board of Amnesty International India.
Roy is known for fighting against alleged state atrocities, where victims —often among India's poorest citizens— report extrajudicial killings, custodial death, rape, mysterious disappearances, and police torture. Roy documented 118 cases in 2006, 469 in 2007, 210 in 2008[2].
At present, he is the National Convener of the Programme Against Custodial Torture and Impunity (PACTI) of India and is the Secretary of MASUM; the convening organization of South-Asian Network against Torture and Impunity (SANTI). Both the networks are working on custodial torture and Impunity.
He attended session at UN Human Rights Council as a representative of Indian NGOs on UPR system in 2008 at Geneva. His work was applauded by Amnesty International on its 50th anniversary year. His opinion on custodial torture; extra judicial killings, capital punishment and faulty criminal justice system get published in various international media of repute and appreciated his daring efforts to minimize violent subjugation of marginalized sections by bordering guards of India and release of Bangladeshi and Indian prisoners; completed their sentences in jails.
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) selected Mr. Roy out of ten activists of the world during the auspices of international human rights day; 2012 and published his version.
In June 2008, the West Bengal police filed several cases against Roy after he had organized a ‘People’s Tribunal on Torture’ documenting several instances of police torture।
This article describes the use of torture since the adoption of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which prohibited it. Torture is prohibited by international law and is illegal in most countries. However, it is still used by many governments.
Human rights in Myanmar under its military regime have long been regarded as among the worst in the world. In 2022, Freedom House rated Myanmar’s human rights at 9 out 100.
Torture in Bahrain refers to the violation of Bahrain's obligations as a state party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and other international treaties and disregard for the prohibition of torture enshrined in Bahraini law.
Human rights in India is an issue complicated by the country's large size and population as well as its diverse culture, despite its status as the world's largest sovereign, secular, socialist democratic republic. The Constitution of India provides for fundamental rights, which include freedom of religion. Clauses also provide for freedom of speech, as well as separation of executive and judiciary and freedom of movement within the country and abroad. The country also has an independent judiciary as well as bodies to look into issues of human rights.
Human rights in Thailand have long been a contentious issue. The country was among the first to sign the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and seemed committed to upholding its stipulations; in practice, however, those in power have often abused the human rights of the Thai nation with impunity. From 1977 to 1988, Amnesty International (AI) reported that there were whitewashed cases of more than one thousand alleged arbitrary detentions, fifty forced disappearances, and at least one hundred instances of torture and extrajudicial killings. In the years since then, AI demonstrated that little had changed, and Thailand's overall human rights record remained problematic. A 2019 HRW report expanded on AI's overview as it focuses specifically on the case of Thailand, as the newly government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha assumes power in mid-2019, Thailand's human rights record shows no signs of change.
Human rights in Greece are observed by various organizations. The country is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the United Nations Convention Against Torture. The Greek constitution also guarantees fundamental human rights to all Greek citizens.
The Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Violations of Human Rights Committed by the Moroccan State, or ASVDH, is a Sahrawi human rights organization in the Moroccan-occupied areas of Western Sahara.
Human rights in Egypt are guaranteed by the Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt under the various articles of Chapter 3. The country is also a party to numerous international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. However, the state of human rights in the country has been criticized both in the past and the present, especially by foreign human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. As of 2022, Human Rights Watch has declared that Egypt's human rights crises under the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, is "one of its worst ... in many decades", and that "tens of thousands of government critics, including journalists, peaceful activists, and human rights defenders, remain imprisoned on abusive 'terrorism' charges, many in lengthy pretrial detention." International human rights organizations, such as the aforementioned HRW and Amnesty International, have alleged that as of January 2020, there are some 60,000 political prisoners in Egypt. Other complaints made are of authorities harassing and detaining "relatives of dissidents abroad" and use of "vague 'morality' charges to prosecute LGBT people, female social media influencers, and survivors of sexual violence". The Egyptian government has frequently rejected such criticism, denying that any of the prisoners it holds are political prisoners.
Jaswant Singh Khalra (1952–1995) was a prominent Sikh human rights activist.
Human rights in Bangladesh are enshrined as fundamental rights in Part III of the Constitution of Bangladesh. However, constitutional and legal experts believe many of the country's laws require reform to enforce fundamental rights and reflect democratic values of the 21st century.
Papa II was an interrogation centre in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, operated by the Border Security Force (BSF) from the start of the Kashmir insurgency in 1989 until it was shut down in 1996.
The political killings in the Philippines are a series of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of left-wing politicians and activists, journalists, human rights advocates, the political opposition, and outspoken clergy that have increased dramatically since 2001.
Azimzhan Askarov was a Kyrgyzstani political activist who founded the group Vozduh in 2002 to investigate police brutality. Of ethnic Uzbek descent, during the 2010 South Kyrgyzstan ethnic clashes, which primarily targeted people of the Uzbek nationality, Askarov worked to document the violence.
Kartam Joga is an adivasi Indian political activist of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). He was imprisoned in Chhattisgarh on suspicion of participating in the Tarmetla ambush in which 75 members of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed by CPI (Maoist) forces. Amnesty International named him a prisoner of conscience and described the charges against him as "fabricated". He was acquitted at his trial for lack of evidence.
Lenin Raghuvanshi is an Indian Dalit rights activist, political thinker and social entrepreneur. He is one of the founding members of People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), which works for the upliftment of the marginalised sections of the society. His work has been recognized with awards like Gwangju Human Rights Award (2007), the ACHA Star Peace award (2008), the International Human Rights Prize of the city of Weimar (2010), Special Mentions Prize of Human Rights of The French Republic (2018), Public Peace Prize(2018) and Karmaveer Maharatna Award (2019). He nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to combat masculinity driven militarist traditions, for his contribution to bettering conditions for peace in world and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of masculinity driven militarist traditions as a weapon of war and conflict. His childhood learning on hegemonic masculinity has been acknowledged by film actor Aamir Khan and he has been invited to participate in Satyamev Jayate TV series, a TV show hosted by Aamir Khan that discussed issue of violence and hegemonic masculinity that went on air in 2014.
In Brazil, the National Truth Commission investigated human rights violations of the period of 1946–1988 - in particular by the authoritarian military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from April 1, 1964 to March 15, 1985.
Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir range from mass killings, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech. The Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and Border Security Personnel (BSF) have been accused of committing severe human rights abuses against Kashmiri civilians. According to Seema Kazi, militant groups have also been held responsible for similar crimes, but the vast majority of abuses have been perpetrated by the armed forces of the Indian government.
Human rights abuses in Kashmir have been perpetrated by various belligerents in the territories controlled by both India and Pakistan since the two countries' conflict over the region began with their first war in 1947–1948, shortly after the partition of British India. The organized breaches of fundamental human rights in Kashmir are tied to the contested territorial status of the region, over which India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars. More specifically, the issue pertains to abuses committed in Indian-administered Kashmir and in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
Vrinda Grover is a lawyer, researcher, and human rights and women's rights activist based in New Delhi, India. As a lawyer, she has appeared in prominent human rights cases and represented women and child survivors of domestic and sexual violence; victims and survivors of communal massacre, extrajudicial killings and custodial torture; sexual minorities; trade unions; and political activists.
Persecution of Muhajirs or Human rights abuses against Muhajirs or Anti-Muhajir sentiment ranges from discrimination, mass killings, forced disappearances and torture, to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech of Muhajirs, mainly those belonging to the right wing party Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan.